"Pageant"

After helping Kaoru find all of his books at the library, he treated me to dinner at the university café. It was a tough battle fending off all the other final year students to get everything, but we managed by running around with half the reading list each. I think our outfits helped intimidate some people… Sorry senpai-s!

Anyway, over some reasonably priced set meals - amazing for cafeteria food - he agreed to show the best place to pick up all things visual-kei. That’s how, the next afternoon, I find myself stood in front of…

“Book-On?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t this a second hand store?”

“Yes.”

“Well that’s depressing… what’s so special about this place?”

“Hmm… there’s not really anything special about it. It just has a bit of everything, but the quality is generally a little higher than most. They even have a magazine section, so you can maybe pick up some more patterns. There should definitely be a lot of old copies of KIRA.”

“And that’s why you’re dressed like a yankii?”

“Skirts are easier for trying things on.”

Taken aback by the implications of his response, I need a moment to recover.

“You’ve done this before?”

“Of course, plenty of times. It means I don’t have to keep taking pants on and off.”

I can’t fault his logic.

He’s androgynous enough to get away with looking like a girl if he wears a skirt, so it’s not like he’ll be harassed for cross-dressing. I mean, MAYA and HISAKI have made careers of it, and Kaoru passes just as well, if not better.

That said, an all black sailor uniform with long skirt - exemplary delinquent attire - might actually get unwanted attention from security.

“Clothes are in the basement. It’s usually a mixed case, though.”

“Case? Oh, bag! A mixed bag.”

“Ah! Yes. Thank you. The clothes they have are a mixed bag. There might be perfect items for almost every style, but they only stock nearly new, and only what will sell.”

Kaoru’s being a bit more casual with his speech today, I think he appreciates having someone to practice English with, but seems to struggle with idioms.

It’s kind of cute.

We head to the clothing department and, unsurprisingly, there’s nothing particularly extravagant.

There are, however, a few really good casual punk pieces. We negotiate who gets what based on who saw it first, who it fits better, and who can afford it. Kaoru wins most of the time.

“You couldn’t have seen this first! We agreed I could look at tops while you went through pants.”

“I saw it last week. I only didn’t buy it then because I had already bought a few other items, and felt like I was spending too much. I was being responsible.”

“That doesn’t count! Only today counts. You could have seen everything before, and I wouldn’t have a chance.”

“Fine, fine… but, if it doesn’t fit…”

He pouts and gives me some obviously fake puppy dog eyes.

“That isn’t going to work on me, buddy!”

I ignore him and try on the grungy cardigan.

It’s this mist grey mohair thing, very holey from having a wide irregular weave. I love it and it fits like a dream.

“Alright. That suits you, but you have to let me borrow it.”

“Why would I let you borrow it?”

I shut him down while folding the garment into my basket, on top of a couple of small accessories.

Kaoru snatches it up and puts it on.

Goddammit…

It honestly suits him better than me. Everything bloody does. It’s a little oversized on him, and creates a sort of eerie shawl effect with his deathly white skin and long black hair.

The wandering spirit of music scenes past.

“Fine, you can borrow it, but only if I can borrow stuff in return. Deal?”

“Deal!”

He snaps at the opportunity with more enthusiasm than I’d have thought he could muster.

It’s almost nostalgic, like when my brother would lend me things from his collection. By which I mean, things from his collection would end up in my room because he didn’t have any space left in his, but in return I could use them whenever I wanted.

Have I become some kind of expanded wardrobe for Kaoru too?

Might end up in Narnia at this rate…

I find a pair of actual vintage H.naruto pants - shorts with detachable legs, clip on skirt panel, and straps - I think they might be from the ANARCHO line, but they’re obviously too small for me.

Without a word, Kaoru bounds up, slips them on under his skirt, unzips the side, and lets the whole thing fall to the floor like a curtain in a magic trick.

“How do I look?”

“Perfect.”

I grumble curses under my breath and walk away while he stands there bashfully.

We wrap up clothes shopping and head upstairs. The games and DVDs take up the ground and first few floors, with the last couple reserved for CDs and books, respectively.

Used to the absolute state of second hand discs back home, I hadn’t put much stock in picking up 20-year-old albums in good condition, even in Japan, but oh… my… GOD!!!

EVERYTHING IS PRISTINE, SCRATCH FREE, AND BASICALLY NEW!!!1!

The prices are kinda high for used CDs, but considering I’m saving on import tax and delivery fees, they’re a steal!

They basically had the entire discographies of all the big names, so I plugged loads of gaps in my collection in one splurge.

I feel comfortably weighed down with my prizes, even if my wallet is disconcertingly lighter.

Kaoru simply watched from the side, not looking for anything himself, amused by my excited scavenging.

“Are you ok carrying all that?”

“We’re indoors right now, so there’s air con, and if I need a break later, we can stop somewhere. S'all good!”

He actually seems unnerved by how much I’ve bought, but it’s not that bad…

I say, as I can feel sweat forming on my forehead, and having already seeped through the back of my top. At least that bit’s hidden by my overstuffed bag.

Then we get to the book floor.

It actually looks like a regular bookshop, everything neatly presented, in essentially perfect condition. I canter right past the books, straight over to the stacks covered in my holy scriptures, the magazine section.

There’s a whole portion dedicated to fashion, a lot of them are old special editions of Vogue or whatever, but…

“KIRA MANIACS!!!”

They have six whole volumes, patterns intact!

Huh… They really liked Annie Tsutsuya? She’s on the cover of all of them.

I have a few editions of KIRA from my brother’s collection, but he never scored a MANIACS. Emboldened, I scour the entire rack.

There’s only one copy of Gothic Girl Testament, and I already own it; however, there are several issues of a FRUIT magazine I didn’t even know existed.

“I thought these were mooks?!.”

Kaoru peers over my shoulder.

An almost saccharine scent trickles into my senses.

How come he gets to look AND smell good? It’s unfair how hard he hit the genetic jackpot!

“I know this one. It stopped printing in 2017, because there’s no one left to photograph, apparently.”

My previous elation crashes into sorrow at yet another thing lost, one I’d never known.

“It was going for about 20 years, so there is bound to be a house load of them.”

“A house load? You mean, shed load.”

“Hmm… would have to be a big shed, no?”

I chuckle at the quickness of his wit - getting a bit of emotional whiplash here - and grab a couple copies of FRUIT.

“You had enough?”

“You kidding? I could go all night! This is a chain, right? We can hit up every location in the city.”

His face drops.

“Yes, a chain. A big chain! Not some local franchise. You do realise how big Tokyo is?”

“How bad can it be, fiv-”

His eyes widen.

“Te-”

Wider.

“Twent-”

Now he just looks unamused.

“Over a hundred in the Greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area.”

It’s my face’s turn to drop.

“Over a hundred locations?!. You gotta be kidding… maybe we could over the course of the yea-”

“Not a chance. I have better things to do. Not every branch is a big multi-story like this Shibuya one.”

Kaoru turns to go, I follow dejectedly, having somehow become pack mule for both us.

“Do you really, though?”

“Really what?”

“Have better things to do?”

“How about this, Tai…”

He stops abruptly, but I fire back even quicker.

“Are you propositioning me?”

“Yes.”

“I… ugh…”

I falter. He got me.

“I thought so. Anyway, they’re about to close for today, but if you treat me to dinner after class tomorrow, I will take you to the other big one in Shinjuku. Do you accept my proposition?”

And with that, he got me again.

“How could I refuse!”